Graves of Lincoln protectors - Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member adgorn
N 41° 57.467 W 087° 39.616
16T E 445282 N 4645300
Allan Pinkerton, Timothy Webster and Kate Warne grave markers, engraved with their memorials of protecting Abraham Lincoln on February 22, 1861 on his way to his first inauguration.
Waymark Code: WMQYVD
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 04/16/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Corp Of Discovery
Views: 2

Pinkerton's obelisk is the most noticeable feature. Webster's cenotaph and Warne's marker are just to the right, facing Pinkerton's grave.

Pinkerton's engraving reads: "A friend to honesty and a foe to crime, devoting himself for a generation to the prevention and detection of crime in many countries. He was the founder in America of a noble profession. In the house of the nation’s peril, he conducted Abraham Lincoln safely through the ranks of treason to the scene of his first inauguration as President. He sympathized with, protected and defended the slaves, and labored earnestly for their freedom. Hating wrong, and loving good, he was strong, brave, tender and true."

From Find-a-grave (visit link) "Timothy Webster was one of Allan Pinkerton's most famous detectives. He provided information to Alan Pinkerton that prevented an assassination attempt on president-elect Abraham Lincoln as he traveled to Washington DC for his inauguration. After the Civil War began Timothy Webster became a Union spy. In 1862, while working in Richmond, Virginia, he became ill. The two men sent to check on him were recognized as Union spies, captured and provided information that exposed Webster. On April 29, 1862, in Richmond, Virginia, Timothy Webster was hanged as a spy. The first attempt to hang him was botched when the knot slipped. Before the second successful attempt to hang Webster he is reported to have said "I suffer a double death!" He was originally buried in Richmond. In 1871 Webster's body was transported to his final resting place in Onarga, Illinois."

On Kate Warne, From Civil War Family (visit link) "She was one of several operatives sent to Baltimore to uncover the plot to kill Lincoln, going undercover as a Southern belle and infiltrating the Barnum Hotel’s social circle, allowing her to confirm a plot wand offer key details. She then coordinated the operatives and devised a scheme to get Lincoln safely to Washington. Allan Pinkerton specifically thanks two people in his memoirs; Kate Warne and Timothy Webster, Pinkerton constantly showed a deep trust in the work that Warne performed and acknowledges so in his memoirs. Kate Warne did not survive long after the Civil War. She suddenly caught pneumonia on New Year’s Day, 1868, and died on the 28th with Pinkerton at her bedside. She is buried in the Pinkerton family Plot in Chicago Illinois’ Graceland Cemetery. She was 38. buried January 30, 1868."

More on the assassination plot in the Wikipedia entry on Warne below.
Location Type: Grave

Property Type: Private

Date of Event: February 22, 1861

Location Notes:
Graceland Cemetery,


URL for Additional Information: [Web Link]

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